AI Case Study
Transavia aims at reducing its 2018 carbon footprint by 6500 tonnes using machine learning
Transavia is implementing Opticlimb, which based on historical flight data and real-time flight conditions optimises climb profiles using AI. Computing the optimal flight climb helps the airline to reduce fuel consumption and therefore carbon emissions. By saving 5 to 10% of climb fuel, the airline aims at reducing its carbon footprint by 6500 in 2018 and achieving fuel savings of more than 2000 metric tons by 2019.
Industry
Transportation
Airlines
Project Overview
"After a four-month experimental phase and satisfying results, Transavia is the first airline to adopt the “green solution” that goes by the name OptiClimb, a world premiere innovation that enables aircraft to significantly reduce their fuel consumption.
Designed in association with INRIA (French Institute for Research in Computer Science and Automation), OptiClimb uses black boxes data – which are available at zero cost - to very accurately determine and analyze each aircraft’s aerodynamic characteristics. The ideal climb profile is then determined ahead of each flight. The slight modifications in the flight path do not affect passenger safety and comfort.
Two months after the UN Climate Conference (COP21), which took place in Paris, Transavia made the choice of a greener aviation and decided to apply OptiClimb instructions to its medium-haul scheduled flights." (SafetyLine, 2016)
"Transavia is the launch customer for OptiClimb, and will use the solution in the operation of its fleet of 26 Boeing 737-800 aircraft.
Panasonic Weather Solutions (PWS) provides Safety Line with enhanced global weather forecast through real-time weather data collection from its TAMDAR sensors and FlightLinkTM Iridium system.
TAMDAR data provides observations of wind, temperature, and moisture every five seconds as TAMDAR-equipped aircraft descend and ascend at nearly 300 airports across North America. It also collects about 3,500 profiles each day from several hundred additional airports located in East Asia, the Pacific, and Europe.
This data is used by Panasonic’s Forecasting Center of Excellence (FCoE), which develops detailed station-based weather forecasting, as well as enhanced weather forecasting.
Panasonic’s expert meteorologists will use these unique atmospheric datasets, as well as sophisticated 4D quality control and proprietary forecasting models, to provide Safety Line with state-of-the-art and unmatched forecasts.
OptiClimb from Safety Line uses such highly accurate, real-time refreshed PWS weather forecasts in lieu of the standard weather parameters to offer optimized climb profiles for each flight.
The process is fully automated from the weather live feed to flight plan analysis and climb schedule issuance to the pilot." (Panasonic)
Reported Results
"Safety Line’s founder and CEO, Pierre Jouniaux, stated: « We are proud to annouce Transavia as first customer for OptiClimb. Thanks to a close cooperation with Transavia’s management and pilots and over 2000 flight test, we were able to validate the results of several years of research jointly led with INRIA/Polytechnique, France’s lead research lab for Data Sciences. If all commercial aircraft carrying 100 passengers and above were to implement OptiClimb, yearly CO2 emissions could be reduced by 4,5 million metric tons, or the equivalent of the carbon footprint of the city of Paris. Thanks to this partnership with Transavia, who are always eager to innovate, we look forward to exploring further opportunities to save fuel on other flight phases »."
Technology
"Airlines can reduce fuel consumption by up to 10 percent during ascent thanks to OptiClimb’s unique patented solution, which uses a combination of machine learning performance models for each individual aircraft, and the computing of optimized climb profiles issued ahead of each flight." (panasonic)
Function
Strategy
Strategic Planning
Background
"Air transport accounts for about 3% of the global CO2 emissions. New ICAO CO2 rules will soon be applied. Concurrently, fuel costs represent around 30% of an airline’s operational costs. Whether it comes down to reducing fuel costs or reducing greenhouse gas emissions, finding solutions to optimize fuel consumption are a must.
This decision is part of Transavia’s eco-friendly approach which aims at reducing greenhouse gas emissions in air transport. Today this kind of approach is an absolute necessity. 60 million tons of CO2, the equivalent of the annual CO2 emissions of Portugal or Vietnam, would be avoided if all airlines in the world were to use OptiClimb.
There are numerous practices intended to reduce an aircraft’s fuel consumption but against all odds, none of them addresses the climb phase, which is the most fuel-consuming phase of a flight. OptiClimb is the first solution that enables airlines to adapt and optimize their aircraft’s climb." (SafetyLine, 2016)
Benefits
Data
weather data